Jerone takes the throne, GRC wins at buzzer to take 10th Region title

There was a time this season that George Rogers Clark didn’t know if they’d have Jerone Morton back.

A wrist injury put things in jeopardy for the junior and team’s leading scorer when a hard fall sidelined him in a January 22 game against Pulaski County.

But Morton went through surgery, missed over a month and then got back to action.

The Cardinals are sure glad he did, Morton adding his name to 10th Region lore with a game-winning layup at the buzzer in the 10th Region championship against Campbell County, winning back-to-back titles with a 60-59 victory.

With 4.4 seconds remaining, Morton caught a side out pass near midcourt, took three dribbles and hit the running layup in the lane before the horn sounded.

Jerone Morton calls game.
George Rogers Clark 60, Campbell County 59

Cardinals are headed to Rupp. pic.twitter.com/qMkmM61U5T

— Evan Dennison (@EvanDennison1) March 28, 2021

“Definitely didn’t think the lane would open up like that,” Morton said. “I prayed to God when I came out there with that 4.4 seconds left. I was praying, straight praying and sure enough he came through. Coach trusted me, said we’d live or die by it and it worked for us.”

Now the Cardinals will get to do something they were unable to last year, play on the Rupp Arena floor in the KHSAA Sweet 16. After winning the 10th Region title on their home floor in 2020, the season was canceled shortly after due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Barring any unforseen circumstances, the wait of playing at Rupp will end Wednesday night when they take on Oldham County out of the 8th Region in the first round of thestate tournament.

“They’ve been through a lot. They really have. We start out the season with such a great start, everybody was ranking us high and then we went through so much adversity. Jerone breaks his hand, we were like a top 10 team in the state of Kentucky. Then we went through COVID protocols and just lost our rhythm. Then people started to write us off thinking we’re not that good, but hey, we’re back in Rupp Arena,” Cardinals coach Josh Cook said.

And they earned it. A tough matchup with Harrison County’s length came in the opener, the Cardinals fighting through a cold shooting night to win 68-53. Friday night they entered the hornet’s nest at The Fieldhouse, taking on a Mason County team that had won 14 straight and had a home heavy crowd behind them. The Cardinals fought back from a 10-point halftime deficit to pull through 64-58.

Saturday night, they took blow after blow from the Camels, the championship pedigree program playing in their sixth region final in the last eight years.

The Camels rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit as the two went back and forth in the second half trading blows, Kason Jackson’s triple in the corner giving the Camels a 59-58 lead with under 30 seconds remaining.

The Cardinals had two opportunities from there to take the lead, but a turnover followed by a missed floater from Morton in the lane had the Camels 7.7 seconds away from a victory.

A missed front end of a 1-and-1 gave the Cardinals one last chance. With a foul to give, the Camels took it, 4.4 seconds remaining, the ball right in front of the Cardinals bench.

After a timeout, Morton raced to near halfcourt to go get the ball, the lane opened up and he took it for the game-winner.

“Players make plays. We put an extra shooter on the floor and when we saw man-to-man we kind of made an adjustment too and ran somebody through. Players got to go make plays, Jerone got to the rim and didn’t settle. That’s a choice you make, you either take it or you don’t settle, you try to go get it and that’s what he did,” Cardinals coach Josh Cook said. “We have practiced game situations like that for about the last three weeks. We have done so many and kids like it too. You can’t simulate it, but you like the idea they can compete with it knowing you’re down two with like 45 seconds to go or eight seconds to go, what will you do? Our guys were pretty alert about it and it made me feel pretty good as a coach because all I can do is put them out there, hey this is the situation and guys have to go out and make a play and they did.”

The loss adds to a long list of agonizing losses in closing seconds of region tournament play for the Camels.

After winning back-to-back titles in 2014 and ‘15, it was Mason County’s Antwavon “Pig” Williams draining a deep 3-pointer in the first round of the 10th Region tournament to put an end to their season.

In 2017, it was a miracle shot by Scott’s Jake Ohmer in the corner of The Fieldhouse to give the Eagles the 10th Region title and end the Camels season.

They’d win it all in 2018 and do so again in ‘19, but Saturday added another buzzer-beater to the list.

That doesn’t even mention the 2018 loss in the state tournament on a late corner three to Oldham County or a two-point loss to eventual state champion Trinity in the 2019 Final Four where they had the ball late to tie or win it.

A 8-0 start from Campbell County put the Cardinals in a quick hole, but they responded with a 14-0 run, Morton scoring eight points during that stretch to get going.

“Just needed to knock down some shots. Teammates trusted me, was real confident everything was going in and it was working tonight,” Morton said. “It’s not easy coming an hour and 20, hour and 30 minute drive off the bus and have to play a game. We were wanting this all year. All year long we worked so hard for this because we made it last year and didn’t get to go. Things just worked out for us. I knew when I got hurt I knew next time I came out I’d play as hard as I could because you never know when the next game is your last.”

They’d take a 21-14 lead into the second, keeping that seven-point edge into halftime at 35-28.

The Camels opened the third strong with a 11-5 run out of the half, Garrett Beiting’s fifth 3-pointer of the night getting them within one at 40-39.

Jake Gross’ two free throws gave them the lead for the first time since the early stages of the first, but Morton answered on the other end with a 3-pointer in the closing seconds to give the Cardinals a 45-43 lead into the fourth.

More back and forth.

Five ties and four lead changes took place in the fourth, Morton’s game winner the final one.

“Something special. I credit all our guys. We’ve got a new nickname for Trent, we call him “TTT”, tourney time Trent. He was huge. We didn’t shoot it well here, we made plays. The great thing I love about Jared Wellman is Jared Wellman will make a big play at the right time because he doesn’t settle. He’s an excellent 3-point shooter, but he knew he had to do something different tonight. You see him diving on the floor for loose balls and does a lot,” Cook said. “These guys just went out and played and made plays and they deserve it.”

What another special tournament at The Fieldhouse. It started with a near mammoth upset to begin when Bracken County took Campbell County to the brink in double overtime and ended with the Cardinals needing all 32 minutes to top the pesky Camels, a team not many expected to be in that position.

Never a dull day in the 10th Region.

CARDINALS 60, CAMELS 59

GEORGE ROGERS CLARK — 21-14-10-15 — 60

CAMPBELL COUNTY — 14-14-15-16 — 59

GRC (60) — Morton 27, Wellman 15, Slone 8, Edwards 4, Smothers 4, Mundy-Lloyd 2

Campbell (59) — Beiting 24, Davie 15, Gross 7, Hamilton 6, Hegyi 4, Jackson 3

Field Goals: GRC 24/51, Campbell 22/49

3-Pointers: GRC 6/21, Campbell 7/14

Free Throws: GRC 6/7, Campbell 8/12

Rebounds: GRC 27 (Edwards and Wellman 6), Campbell 29 (Davie 12)

Assists: GRC 7 (Slone 4), Campbell 11 (Gross 3)

Turnovers: GRC 8, Campbell 7

Fouls: GRC 11, Campbell 10

Records: George Rogers Clark 19-4, Campbell County 18-9